The theme of the upcoming Summit of the African Union in 2007 is science, technology and research for Africa's socio-economic development. This choice undoubtedly reflects the growing realization that science, technology and innovation are central to economic prosperity and to reaching the international development goals in such areas as food security, disease control, access to clean water and environmental sustainability.
Elaborated in 2005 by the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action is the fruit of a continent-wide consultation; it creates a roadmap for international and regional cooperation in science and technology over the next five years.
UNESCO has accompanied this exciting new initiative, first by assisting in the initial elaboration of Africa's strategy for science and technology, then by co-organizing the First African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in Nairobi in 2003 and throwing its support behind the Second Ministerial Conference on the same theme in 2005. To ensure a coherent approach among United Nations agencies, UNESCO also held a meeting in June 2006 to prepare with its sister agencies for the African Union Summit in 2007.
If the structure of the present brochure mirrors that of Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, it is no coincidence. At the dawn of what promises to be a new era for science in Africa, the brochure you are about to read provides a 'menu' of UNESCO programmes which echo the objectives of the Plan of Action. Although a non-exhaustive list, the activities on the following pages give a foretaste of the ways in which UNESCO can lend its support to NEPAD.
While many leading researchers in Africa including Kenya, say the continent will contol but not eliminate malaria, Professor Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Executive Director, Roll Back Malaria Partnership says we now have before us a realistic opportunity to drastically reduce malaria deaths, start eliminating the disease and eventually eradicate it.
The Island of Zanzibar has set a gold standard example in succeeding in reducing malaria deaths by more 71 percent. With remarkable tenfold increases in funding for malaria control since 2004, countries like Eritrea, Swaziland, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia among other countries have reduced malaria deaths and cases by 50 percent through widespread application of effective measures, Prof Coll-Seck said in her World Malaria Day speech at UN headquarters in New York. Universal coverage is not targetsetting for its own sake. It is based on solid scientific evidence, which shows that malaria control interventions work and that this contributes to achieving broader health and development goals, she added.Roll Back Malaria Partnership goals also aims to eliminate malaria in up to 10 countries by 2015 and afterwards in all countries that are currently in the pre-elimination phase. In the long-term, eradicate malaria worldwide by reducing theglobal incidence to zero through progressive elimination in countries.However, unlike before, Africa is well placed to eradicate malaria if the governments, medical experts and the general ublic remain determined because there are increased options that are available in large scale. These include effectivetreatment using ACT-L, Insecticide treated nets and residual spraying.Indeed some nations managed to eradicate malaria via widespread environment spraying and destruction of mosquito breeding grounds by draining stagnant water while using nets to keep out mosquitoes at night.However, it has to be said that Africa seems to be heavily relying on donors and global goodwill while putting minimal efforts in terms of budgetary allocations. In fact few nations can directly pinpoint what they really allocate for the war against malaria. Still there have been credible claims that in some countries even the donor money has been misused while the dangerous tendency to get substandard drugs haunt most countries including Kenya. There seems to be minimal willingness even from local experts to ensure that substandard drugs are not just kept out but some legal actions taken against importers and manufacturers.In other words only inefficiency and corruption could stop some African nations from eradicating malaria.
Useful Links that provide information that was to much to copy on the page:
http://www.princeton.edu/~hos/Workshop%20II%20papers/Hallen_Wiredu.doc.pdf
http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/
http://faculty.msmc.edu/lindeman/af.html
http://meta-religion.com/Philosophy/Articles/african_philosophy.htm
http://www.africawithin.com/jeffries/aapart31.htm
http://www.smith.edu/philosophy/science_and_tech.html <-- Analytical essay on African Science
http://www.unesco.org/science/science_africa.shtml
http://scienceafrica.com/cms/?p=59